Loyalty Amongst Thieves
by DittyWrites
Summary: Selina Kyle decides that Edward Nygma owes her some kind of compensation after he kidnapped and almost killed her and she is determined to get it from the man himself. But is everything as it seems? (Set post-Arkham Knight.)


Edward groaned as his consciousness returned to him. He could feel that he was lying on a cold, hard surface and his thoughts were sluggish as he attempted to think through his situation. The last thing he could remember was being in his cell at the GCPD and then he felt a small stinging sensation followed by utter darkness. Keeping his eyes shut, he subtly brought one hand up to his neck and slowly felt the area, his fingers brushing over a tiny raised mark which caused him to flinch slightly. It was definitely the mark left by a tranquilliser dart. That would also explain the sluggish thoughts. Cracking one eye open slightly as he struggled to gather his bearings, he was met with a rather surprising sight. Unless his vision was deceiving him, he was back in the factory he used as a robot production base. The neon green lights and question marks which littered the room were rather hard to misinterpret.

"Hello?" He offered to the eerily silent room. After months of working here surrounded by the constant clashing and clanging of his robots it was quite unsettling to be met with silence, not that he would ever confess to feeling uneasy. Whatever fool had taken him would not get the satisfaction of seeing him panic. "Who is there?" He shouted confidently. "Why am I here?"

"You're here," a sultry female voice called out from behind him, "because you have a serious debt to me and I am here to collect."

Edward knew that voice. "Catwoman? Selina is that you?" Standing up quickly, he spun around to locate the source of the voice and he was instantly met with a calm yet furious-looking Selina Kyle. "Ahh!" Edward jumped back slightly in surprise. "How...uhh...nice to see you?" He continued to back away slowly from the irate woman.

"Where do you think you're going Eddie?" Selina asked with a voice like steel. "After all the effort I made to break you out of your little cell? You're planning on just leaving me?"

Edward sensed danger. "Thank you very much for that Selina, dear. I have always considered you a worthy friend and ally. You are so unlike the other denziens which inhabit this cesspool of a city." He spoke sweetly before asking tentatively, "Would you mind telling me why I am here?"

"Of course." She smiled tightly. "Well, after our little disagreement earlier in the week, which occurred after you kidnapped me," tilting her head she continued, "I realised that I was probably owed some kind of compensation from you so I decided to break in to your little playhouse here and take what I was owed." She paused to indicate the small safe which was hidden under one of the floorboards. "Imagine my surprise when I discovered that your personal safe is encrypted with both retinal and fingerprint scanners," she frowned, "that is very unlike you Eddie. You're more of a password and key-card kinda guy. So I had to actually make the effort to bring you here so that I can ask you very nicely to open it for poor little me." She flexed her hands and the claws glinted in the dim light, causing Edward to gulp in apprehension.

"And how much do you think you're getting from me?" Crossing his arms, Edward raised an eyebrow. Due to his stint in the GCPD he had been forced into the dullest, most unflattering, grey prison jumpsuit and he could feel it scratching against his skin. It was also quite thin. If Selina got claw-happy with him then he would probably be ripped to shreds in an instant. A fate he would rather avoid. "Name a figure."

"Usually, for something like this I would take a small sum, around $300,000 probably. But since I feel this particular betrayal deserves a harsher punishment, I have upped it to a solid half-a-million. I am sure you can afford it." She smiled again as she stared at him. "No loyalty amongst thieves is the theme of the week it would seem. So after I am finished collecting my money, i'm going to knock you out and personally deliver you to Arkham."

Edward listened to her accusations and threats with a mildly confused expression. This was not like Selina, her voice held a mild bitterness which he would never have associated with her. His eyes widened suddenly in realisation. This wasn't about the money. This was about him specifically. As he shifted his vision so that he could stare back as Selina, he could see the faintest hint of hurt behind the flashes of anger in her eyes. He had apparently hurt her with his actions. "Selina." He started, allowing the smallest note of apology to enter into his voice, "I am unhappy that my actions appear to have caused you some distress."

Snorting derisively, Selina responded. "I am not hurt. And why should I even believe you?"

Holding out his palms to her in defense, he spoke quietly. "We have known each other for over a decade. In that length of time, how many times have I targeted you specifically? We have a good working relationship and I would go as far as to describe you as one of the very few...acquaintances...I have in this city whom I have no desire to force into a deadly game of matching wits. I mean, have I ever actually made the effort to harm you in some way?"

"People change." She shrugged. "I would not have expected you to ever kidnap and attempt to kill me. You are lucky I am not repaying in kind."

"Kill you?!" He exclaimed in surprise. "Did you actually believe my robots would kill you? You are worth more to me than the rest of the unwashed, moronic masses. I would never allow it. My robots are a technological breakthrough that only a genius such as I could fashion, they are completely obedient to my orders."

Selina refused to back down. "You have a funny way of showing that 'care' that you claim to possess, Eddie. The only reason your filthy tin cans never killed me is because I destroyed them all."

Realising that he had actually might have made a mild mistake here, Edward decided that a practical demonstration might restore her faith in him. "If I can prove that I never intended to hurt you, would that make a difference?"

"It might. Or it might not."

"Computer!" Edward called out loudly and waited for the computer to respond in the affirmative. "Give me a summary of 'Protocol delta orange romeo kilo'."

"Protocol delta orange romeo kilo: All robots are instructed to make every effort possible to kill the entity known as Batman on sight. Any sighting must be reported to home base." The disembodied female voice announced to the listening pair.

Selina rolled her eyes. "I don't see what this has to do wit-"

Speaking over her, Edward called out again. "Now give me a summary of Protocol bravo alpha sierra tango!"

"Protocol bravo alpha sierra tango: All robot are instructed to keep the entity known as Catwoman detained for as long as possible until the arrival of the Batman. Physical violence is strictly forbidden. Detain only."

"Thank you computer." Edward smirked. "You were saying?" He directed back to Selina, whose face had lost a great deal of the anger which it had possessed.

"And how was I supposed to know any of that?" She hissed. "They still attacked me."

Cocking an eyebrow as he considered her words, he answered slowly. "That is a fair point. I had just assumed, given our history, that you would know that I am not inclined to attempt to kill you. I find the thought a little distasteful. And to explain why the did attack you," his face suddenly held the slightest tinge of a blush, "my creations may have mistaken you for Batman on one or two occasions. A error I will correct in the immediate future."

Sighing in resignation, Selina allowed her remaining anger to dissipate. True, she had felt incredibly betrayed when Edward kept her prisoner but he did appear to have went out of his way to keep her relatively safe. "I'm still going to take money from you," she frowned as she watched the genius, after all he did still keep her hostage and she would not allow him to get away with it, "but my plans to completely hospitalize you have been put on hold. For now."

"Fair enough." Edward agreed easily. "And how much do I have to pay for you to allow my handsome face to remain exactly as it currently is?"

"$250,000. And I also want you to owe me a favour."

"Agreed. I will even make it $300,000 as a sign of goodwill." Walking towards one of the computer terminals, Edward started to type quickly as he accessed one of his online holdings. "Shall I transfer to the usual account?" At Selina's nod he completed the transaction. "And our business is finished. As an aside, i shall refrain from billing you for the price of the robots which you destroyed during your escape."

"Try it Eddie." She warned. "Well that seems to be it then, only one or two small things left to do." Moving swiftly towards him without giving him time to react, Selina struck out with her fist and punched him harshly on the shoulder. "That was for using me as bait in your stupid games with Batman." Hissing lightly, Edward clasped a hand to his shoulder to dull the ache which her punch had created. "And this," she leaned in a placed a gentle kiss on his cheek, "is for the extra money and also for not being the traitor I thought you were."

"Needless to say, i much preferred the kiss over the punch." Edward gave a pained smirk as he continued to clutch his shoulder. "So are you taking me to Arkham now?"

"Not his time. But if you try anything like this ever again Eddie, I'll break your damn jaw before I drop you at the doors of Arkham."

"Threat received and understood." He nodded and saluted lamely. "Now that we seem to be even again, can I trouble you for one small, really tiny favour myself?"

"Which would be?" She asked warily.

"Well, my costume is still currently locked up in the GCPD and since I doubt that you took the time to pick it up I would appreciate it being returned to me." He plucked at the grey jumpsuit. "I am a man of standards and this jumpsuit is garish."

Selina smiled at the request as she shook her head in mild fondness. "You really are a mess Eddie. I will see what I can do."


End file.
